Overhead door mounting



Jan. 23, 1951 H. H. OLSEN v OVERHEAD DOOR MOUNTING Filed July 8, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet l l I 30 l GEE 39 l Z7\ i ii I 38 ii i ii l 2+ 9 1 1 INVENTOR. 1; 4L Y H y bmr o/rm H. H. OLSEN OVERHEAD DOOR MOUNTING Jan. 23, 1951 Filed July 8, 1946 Sheefcs-Sheet 2.

! INVENTOR.

Jan. 23, 1951 H. H. OLSEN OVERHEAD DOOR MOUNTING 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 8, 1946 INVENTOR. f/EM/ Mm O/mv patented Jan. 23, 1 951 UN [TED STATES FATE OF 'F'IICE 2,539,200 OVERHEAD DOORMOUN ING' Henry Hans- Olsen, Detroit, Mich, assignor to Crawford Door Company, DetroitgMicl'n, a corporation of.-: Michigan Application July 8; 1946,.SerialI.No,..68l,941.

The present invention relates generally to an overhead doormountingand more particularly to a simple arrangement of partsfor counterbalancing thetypeofdoort-hat swingsupwardly from a vertical closed position to a substantially horizontal overhead open position.

According to the-present invention, a efficient, simple, and easily installed upwardly acting tilting type door construction is provided for producing all of the advantages of an overhead door without the heretofore encountered expense and installation difiiculties.

Doors of the present invention are suspended by rollers movablealong overhead horizontal tracks, and are swung onlinks or radiusrods from. closed vertical position to overhead substantially horizontal open position, and vice versa, the. asse-mblies-being capable of installation by: an average home owner and are simple and can com-- petefavorably, on a price basis, withhinged doors.

The hardware of an assembly of'thisinvention; includes, for one door, two metal strips. for ap pl-ication overthe side edges of? a door, acroller on the upper end of a strip, twovertically spaced. brackets secured near: the lower end of. astrip', two: sub assemblies each at which includes a Weatherstrip platetorbe: secured to a.jamb=,.a1plate; carries near its upper end: a. bracketi for engagementby one end of. a connterbalancedspring: A. plate; also carries, below the spring. bracket,v a.

pivot for. theupper end. of a radius rod. Aradlus 5 rodis pivoted at its upper end; to a. pivot end. at; its lowerend to. the. upper: of: thetwo brackets ad=. jacent the, lower end: of a strip. The hardware; inc udes al o w sprin a p ir. of track. ways. and necessary attaching means such as: screws, bolts, or the like, for-attachment of. the hardwareto the door andhanging of the door in a doorway.

The lower ends of the springs are attached to the'lower bracketsadjacent the lower. ends of. the strips.

The. radius rods are connected to their pivots.

in such manner that the only relative movement.

therebetween is rotative movement.

The springs are. connected to, their pivots, in such manner. that the only relative movement, therebetween is, rotative movement.

In the present. invention there is no relative, shifting movement between any of the. pivots and the door or door jambs;

The upper spring anchor pins are immovably I fixed. to the plates attached to the jambs while the lower spring anchor pins'are immovably attached to the door.

The relationship of the pivots forthe springs and the pivots forthe links or radius rods is 1 Claim. (01. 20-49) suchthatthe componentof sp in tensionacting, in a direction'toward" the door at substantially right angles thereto will be sufiicient to urge the lower margin of the door inwardly when the, door either t 's st nti l horizo ta iop n pos tion or vertical closed position. Such? arrangement'prevents slamming, and exerts inward, pullon the door to hold itopen or closed; asthe case, may be.

This endis accomplished by attachment ofthev owe ends of the. sprin s to e dee nearer to the door than the attachment of the lower ends: of the links, while theupper ends of the springsare connected-tothe jam-b3 farther from the door than the connections of the upper ends of the: links to the-'jambs:

The metalstri-ps-extend' along; the entire height of the door'onthe-side edges thereofand-servetosecure the door sections together, if a plurality or sections be-used', in additionto-serving as supports and rigidifyi'ng means for the door; Thesemetal strips preferably takethe form of channels or angles which embrace the sideedges of the door, and are suitably attached in place to support. the-door when it is suspended from itstrack-ways.

The plates of the sub-assemblies areattached to the door jam'b's and constitute weatherstrips.

To operativel'y' assemble a door'ofthis invention in a doorway, the procedure is as follows:-

The-door is laid on suitable' -supports, such asv horses, whereupon the metal strips are" attached along the side edgesofthe door and secured in: suitable manner. The overhead" tracks are installed int-he structure immediately" behindthe doorway. The door'is'ti'lt'ed through thedoorway" and hung; on the trackwaysby the rollers carried by themeta-l strips attached to'the side edges'of' the door. The sub-assemblies arethen applied}.

with the plates attached-to the jambs and the door is then swungto open overhead position and the counterbalance springs hooked to their pivots on' the jam-bs and doorrespectively.

The metal strips-for attachment to the edges of the door may take the form of channel'sor angles. If channels, the flanges thereof engageowner without the aid of'speci'al tools, and=without the aid of expert help.

Another object of the present invention is to provide pre-assembled door hardware, and precut doors for mounting such hardware, in order that upwardly acting doors may be quickly installed by unskilled labor.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a precut door and pre-assembled linkages of door hardware which hardware may be readily applied to the door and the door and hardware readily attached to door jambs for tiltably mounting the door in the doorway.

Another and further object of the present invention is to provide an overhead door construction wherein radius rods or links and counterbalance springs are pivota lly connected to the door jambs and door, respectively, on fixed pivots or anchor pins, and in which the arrangement of the pivot pins is such that a component of spring tension acting in a direction toward the door will be sufficient to urge the lower portion of the door inwardly with respect to the doorway when the door is in either its substantially horizontal open position or vertical closed position.

The invention has for an additional object the positioning of fixed anchor pins for the counterbalance springs and radius rods or links of an overhead door construction to effect easy movement of the door between open and closed positions, and to apply a pulling action against the lower margin of the door to hold it in open overhead position as well as in closed vertical position.

The above, other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings, which, byway of preferred example only, illustrates one embodiment of the invention.

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmental elevational View of adoorway, from the inside thereof, with a door of the present invention mounted therein, and shown in closed position.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view through the door in closed position, showing the relationh 'e-.oi, i t pa 1 Figure 3 is a diagrammatic exaggerated view of the relative position of the springs and links when a door is in closed position.

Figure 4 is an elevational view of one of the jambs of the doorway, showing the door in tilted position somewhere between its fully closed and fully opened positions.

Figure 5 is a similar view showing the door in fully opened overhead position.

Figure 6 is an elevational view of one of the brackets carrying a fixed anchor stud for the upper end of a counterbalance spring, and showing a portion of the spring in section.

Figure 7 is a fragmental view, partially in elevation and partially in section, of the lower end of a counterbalance spring showing its manner of attachment to the door.

Figure 8 is a top plan viewof the bracket of Figure 7, and

, Figure 9 is a fragmental horizontal sectional view through a portion of the door and a compression spring.

- As shown on the drawings:

In Figures 1 and 2, I0 designates a door for opening and closing a doorway II defined by alintel l2, side jambs l3 and a floor l4.

Overhead tracks, one of which is shown at 15, projectinwardly from the doorway adjacent the lintel l2. The tracksat their iront ends are suitably secured to the door frame, and at their ends are suitably attached to the frame structure of the building.

The tracks l5 are formed as troughs I! in which rollers attached to the door It may travel, as will be more fully explained. As may be observed in Figure 1, the tracks l5 have upper flanges 18 to prevent the rollers from being accidentally displaced from the tracks.

Two metal strips A, one of which is herein shown, for application to the side edges of the door ID, are illustrated as channels applied to the side edges of the door, with the webs l9 against the side edges and the flanges 20 and 2| against the inner and outer surfaces of the door along the edges. Attached to the upper end of each of the strips A is a bracket 22 supporting roller 23 for movement in a track 15. Adjacent the lower end of the channel A are two brackets, in vertically spaced relation. The lower bracket 2 1i is attached to the channel near its lower end, and the upper bracket 25 is attached to the channel a slight distance bove the bracket 24, as may be readily observed in Figure 4.

Secured along the upper end of the channel A is a Weatherstrip 26 so disposed as to overlie the space between the door and a jamb when the door is closed, as illustrated in Figure 1. It will be noted that this Weatherstrip extends downwardly along the channel partway of the length of the same.

The channels A constitute part of the subassemblies.

A sub-assembly includes a channel A and a plate 21, the latter adapted to be applied along the inside of a jamb and constituting a weatherstrip to overlie the joint between the door and the jamb between the floor I4 and the lower end of the upper Weatherstrip 26.

Attached, as by welding or otherwise, to each plate 21, is an angle member B having one flange 28 we ded or otherwise secured to the plate 21 and its other flange 29 at right angles to the flange 28 and projecting inwardly from the plate 21. The flange 29 is apertured.

Welded or otherwise secured to the upper end of the plate 21, above the bracket B, is another the flange 32 but of less horizontal extent. The

margins of the flanges 32 and 33 and the base 3| are bent outwardly as shown in Figure 6 for the purpose of rigLdity and strength.

The flange 34 is apertured to receive a stud 35. The stud 35 is provided with a head 36 and a shank 3'! which is entered-in the aperture in the flange 34 and headed or otherwise fastened in place in the flange. It will be noted that the head 36 of the stud is spaced inwardly from the flange 34 of the bracket 30.

The brackets 30 are made as right-hand and left-hand members and applied to the plates 2'! so that the flanges 23 and 34 extend inwardly of the jambs to which the brackets are applied.

It is to be understood that there are two subassemblies per doorway, one for application to a left-hand jamb and the other for application to a right-hand jamb, along the inside surfaces of the jambs.

The sub-assemblies include, also. links or radius rods 38. The upper end of a radius rod is amazon The; brackets are angle members: each.

having" am angle. welded. or: otherwise securedito the channel. A and. the other flange at right angles to the inside surface of the door.

"Referring to Figure 1, it will be noted that a radius rod 38 is arranged closely adjacent the jamb of the doorway.

There are two counterbalance springs per door, one of which is shown at 39. The counterbalance springs are coiled tension springs with the upper ends thereof formed with upstanding loops 40 to be hooked over stud 35 of the upper spring brackets 30.

The lower spring brackets 24 are shown as angle members having one flange 24a secured to the channel A, and another flange at right angles thereto which is provided with a hole 4|.

A spring anchor 42 in the form of a plate has corrugated margins 43 to enable the plate to "be screwed into the lower end of a spring 39.

The plate 42 is formed with a keyhole slot 44, and a link 45 having its ends bent engages the keyhole slot 44 in the anchor 42 and the hole 4| in the bracket 24 to thus connect the lower end of a spring to the door. 39 may be adjusted by screwing the anchor plate 42 with respect to the lower end of the spring, and then hooking it to the plate 27. The lower end of a spring 39 is pivoted at 49 to bracket 24 by the link 45.

The arrangement of the counterbalanced springs and radius rods, just described, makes it possible for easy manipulation of the door in opening and closing it without interference between the radius rods and springs.

It will be noted from Figure 3 that the lower ends of the springs 39 are pivotally connected to the door by pivots which are nearer the inside surface of the door than are the pivotal connections of the lower ends of the links 38 and that the pivotal connections of the upper ends of the springs are farther from the inside surface of the door than are the pivotal connections of the upper ends of the links 38, also that the lower pivots of the springs are below the lower pivots of the links while the upper pivots of the springs are above the upper pivots of the links, with the door closed. Such arrangement holds the door closed and, as the component of spring tension force in a direction toward the door decreases as the door approaches its fully closed position, the door will be closed without slam.

Fastened to the underside of the lintel I2 is a stop 46 against which the upper margin of the door strikes as it ismoved to fully closed position.

Referring to Figures 2, 4 and 5, the door may be moved from vertical closed position to open horizontal overhead position by pushing against the lower margin of the door from the inside, or by pulling the door from the outside by suitable handle means. Figure 4 illustrates the arrangement of the door, counterbalance springs, and radius rods, as the door has been moved from closed position, or is approaching closed position. As the door approaches its overhead position the lengths of the springs decrease, thus reducing the force applied to the door as it nears its open position. Referring to Figure 5, it will be noted that, with the door in fully opened overhead position, the pivotal connections of the springs to the brackets 24 lie to the right of the The tension of a spring channels A are applied.

pivotal connection of are inclined with respect to: the jambs. parts as shown in Figure 5., there is thus a com.-

ponent of the spring tension which acts to the left, as viewed in Figure 5,. which hold's'the door:

in. opened position, that is to say,.tends tourge it inwardly with respect to the door opening;v

It. is. to be: understood that suitable locking means may be applied to the door, for looking it in closed position. However, as such locking means forms no part of the present invention, it has not been illustrated.

All of the hardware parts for doors of the present invention may be formed by stamping operations on sheet metal. The strips for the weather strips and angle or channel strips may be made irom the same strip stock. It has been found that strip stock of one and one-half inches wide and one-sixteenth inch thick is satisfactory for the average single garage door.

It will be observed that the present invention provides simple means for mounting an overhead door in a doorway. The means comprise metal parts which may be manufactured at minimum expense, with the sub-assemblies assembled, and the whole hardware set and door supplied to a user who may, without special tools and without experienced help, readily install the door in his garage or other building structure.

The door of the present invention may be made as a one-piece door, or might be made of separate panels which are connected together when the It is to be understood that one of the panels may be provided with glass or other transparent material.

The relative positions of the link and spring pivots is such that a plane through the pivots of a link and which includes the link axis will in tersect a plane through the spring pivots and which includes the spring axis.

It will, of course, be understood that various details of construction may be varied through a wide range without departing from the principles of this invention and it is, therefore, not the purpose to limit the patent granted hereon otherwise than necessitated by the scope of the appended claim.

I claim as my invention:

In an overhead door construction, a door frame having a door opening, a horizontally extending trackway adjacent the upper end of said door frame at each side of said door opening, a one piece tilta'ble door, a roller on the upper end of said door at each side thereof and carried by a corresponding one of said trackways, said door being movable on said trackways from a closed door position in said door opening to an open door position upwardly and rearwardly of said door opening, a link on each side of said door, a first pivotal connection between one end of each of said links and said door at a point intermediate the upper and lower ends of said door, a second pivotal connection between the other end of each of said links and said door frame at a point intermediate the upper and lower portions of said door opening, a coil spring on each side of said door, a first spring connection between one end of each of said springs and said door at a point between the lower end of said door and said first pivotal connections, and a second spring connection between the other end of each of said springs and said doorframe at a point between the upper portions of said door opening and the r the radius rods to: the: brackets 25'. With the door in fully: opened over-- head position, it will: be. noted that the springs With-the:

said second pivotal connections, said first spring REFERENCES CITED connections and said first pivotal connections be- The following references are of record'm th ing spaced apart laterally from one another with file of this patent. reference to the plane of said door to decrease the spring tensioning force as said door ap- 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS proaches the closed door position and spaced Number Name Date apart vertically on said door to impart a torque 2,045,100 Robinson June 23, 1936 around said pivotal connections tending to hold 2,255,769 Gallagher et a1. Sept. 16, 1941 said door open, 1

HENRY HANS OLSEN. 10 

